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Information and discussion about canning and dehydrating tomatoes and other garden vegetables and fruits. DISCLAIMER: SOME RECIPES MAY NOT COMPLY WITH CURRENT FOOD SAFETY GUIDELINES - FOLLOW AT YOUR OWN RISK

http://www.durgan.org/2015/August%20...%20Clove/HTML/ 8 August 2015 Garlic Clove
This is my typical garlic clove.At the garlic festivals I have not encountered better. This is hard neck and the name is not known. I select the best bulbs for seed each year, but also am growing bulbils now for seed. It has a strong biting, garlic flavor, meaning it is not pleasant to eat raw, since it burns somewhat.The clove skin is slightly colored purple near the base, but the clove is perfectly white after being the skin is removed.The largest clove is 31 grams and the total bulb weight is 117 grams.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MYHED 18 October 2014 Planting Garlic
About 100 cloves of hard neck garlic was planted for harvest in July of 2015. The cloves were saved from my 2014 garlic harvest. Only the largest cloves were selected for planting.The cloves were removed from the bulbs by pressing a table knife through the center of the dried scape. This effectively opens the bulb and the cloves can be easily removed.Each bulb has from 5 to 8 cloves. Usually only five are large and nicely shaped. The smaller not suitable cloves will be utilized for table use Some years I have been short of seed so used he smaller cloves and found no perceptible difference in size of the bulbs. But if I have sufficient only the largest perfect cloves are utilized. The cloves were planted at six inch spacing with the pointed end up and about two inches into the soil from the top of the clove. No hole was made but the clove was firmly pressed to insure a close affinity with the soil. Pictures depict the process.

Store in a milk transport container, or basket with air holes, in a dark cold room in the basement. It keeps about five or six months without starting to sprout. The temperature of the cold room is supplied by an air intake from outside probably around 10C or 15 C on average.

http://www.durgan.org/2015/August%20...Trimming/HTML/ 12 August 2015 Garlic Trimming
Garlic has been drying in the shed for about two weeks and dry enough for trimming the stalks and roots for storage. The garlic is stored in an open well ventilated container in the cold room and keeps for about six months. There were 13 pounds around 75 bulbs. About 100 cloves, 5 or 6 cloves per bulb, were chosen for the seed for the 2015/2016 crop. For reference seven bulbs constitute a pound. The bulbils from one hardneck bulb was removed from the ground and the seeds collected. The gauze around the seed head is to prevent the seeds from dispersal as they dry and ripen. The seeds take a long time to mature and if collected too early they are not viable.A few elephant garlic were also processed.The seeds of the elephant are not mature yet.

http://www.durgan.org/2015/August%20...HTML/index.htm 23 August 2015 Mortar and Pestle
Garlic prior for use should be crushed and allowed to sit for at least 15 minutes or longer. Crushing, or pressing garlic and allowing it to sit for ~15 minutes provides enough time for the alliinase and alliin,released from the process,to interact and form allicin,the beneficial product. My method of crushing is to utilize a tortilla press for the initial crush, then hone the process in a mortar and pestle. This method can easily be adapted to processing large quantities of garlic or down to a single clove. The method is efficient and easy to implement, and clean up is simple.

It works I do the same thing with all garlic.
I will set the pod of garlic I buy at the store root side up and give it a wack with my hand.
Then the cloves are separated and the ones I want to use will have the root end cut off.
I take a wide knife or a heavy meat cleaver and give it a good wack or you can pop the flat side of the blade with your hand while it is sitting on top of the clove.
This will allow you to peel it very easy, the skin just falls off.